Allison Steele

City Councilwoman Deborah Person-Polk will not be seeking a second term this November. Taking her place on the ballot will be Arthur Barclay, a recent South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and assistant basketball coach at Camden High School.

April 1 was the deadline to turn in petitions for those running for Camden Mayor and City Council At-Large under Democrat and Republican tickets in the June primaries. Mayor Dana L. Redd and council members at large Curtis Jenkins, Marilyn Torres and Deborah Person-Polk all turned in their petitions last week under the Camden County Democratic Committee slogan, Camden municipal clerk Luis Pastoriza said. In addition Arthur Barclay and a few other candidates turned in petitions to run under other Democrat slogans.

But on Thursday, a request was made to switch Barclay to the Camden Democratic establishment ticket and withdraw Person-Polk’s petition, Pastoriza said. Camden County Democratic Committee executive director spokesman Matt White was not available for comment Monday.

Person-Polk is the Camden Board of Education’s Director of Federal and State Funds in charge of securing grants. She also has served four terms on the Camden Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners, according to the city’s website. She was elected to city council in 2010.

Barclay is a 2000 Camden graduate and was a two-time Inquirer All-South Jersey performer who scored 1,259 career points. He earned a basketball scholarship to the University of Memphis and returned to Camden, where he is helping coach the Camden High team. Barclay was inducted into the South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame in February.